Monday, January 17, 2011

Every year around this time I feel a need to write an essay about Brother Martin and his immense contributions to civil rights here in A-merry-ca. I feel a need but I never do it. Partly because there are so many great essays (like this one from my man Mel) around this time about Dr. King that adequately convey my thoughts about the man. We have, in my opinion, covered pretty much everything. The man's legacy -and his place in A-merry-can history- speak for itself.

But, sadly, there are some folks who will never get it. Or, who will never acknowledge his contributions. Hell there are states in this union who never really got it. (Utah wouldn't even attach the name Martin Luther King to the holiday until 2000. And welcome to the 21st Century, South Carolina.) As you can see from one of the previous links, there are sites on the web that were set up to seem legitimate but whose sole purpose was to distort King's legacy and the contribution of black folks to A-merry-ca. So excuse me if I don't feel like everyone is on board this King love train.

The NAACP on behalf of the African American and minority community is appalled and thoroughly incensed at Peter Gorman's decision to use the MLK holiday as a snow make up day. Once again Dr. Gorman has shown total disdain and disrespect for a very significant part of this community. He continues to demonstrate a blatant deliberate disconnect with the African American Community.

This issue of using Dr. King's birthday as a snow day was visited in the spring of 2010 at a board meeting and the community showed unanimous support to choose a day other than the King holiday. There are other work days and Saturdays (which is done in many other counties) that could very easily accommodate CMS's needs.

Martin Luther King is the only African American in the history of this country being granted a national holiday in his honor because of the horrible and cruel sacrifices African Americans have made in the building of this democracy and in-lieu of the extraordinary personal and humanitarian sacrifices made by Dr. King and others. We will not sit idle and let you desecrate this day. We respectfully request that you immediately reconsider and choose another day."

Yeah I know that the kids have to learn. But couldn't the little Rugrats use the summer to make up the snow days they missed? And BTW Doctor, if you are going to keep them in school and teach them about Dr. King and service, you won't get an argument from me.

Folks let me leave you with bits and pieces of a wonderful essay by Anthony Jerrod writing in the Atlanta Post. I felt myself picking up most of what he was putting down. Most of it.

"Almost three weeks prior to his assassination, the late Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered one of his most riveting and poignant speeches in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. Though not as well known as some of his other great speeches (e.g., “I Have a Dream, Beyond Vietnam), this undaunted oration was equivocally important. In the midst of an affluent, conservative and predominantly white crowd of over 2,700 people, Dr. King brilliantly discussed the problem of race and economics in the face of significant hostility and angry protesters.

With an almost perfect backdrop of the relatively wealthy and suburban Grosse Pointes brushed against the struggling urban landscapes of Detroit, Dr. King discussed a metaphorical yet literal dualism that was fairly ubiquitous throughout this nation during that current time and space. Specifically, Dr. King discussed that there was “One America” that consisted of citizens who enjoyed material abundance and prosperity, decent education, cultural stimulation, spiritual freedom, respect and dignity......Then, there was the “Other America.” Conversely, this America embodied despair, hopelessness, discouragement, poverty, dilapidated housing, inadequate education and a lack of basic necessities. Is this “Other America” that Dr. King discussed still present and relevant today? Or, was this American “apartheid” just a divisive and extreme figment of Dr. King’s imagination that was unimportant and invalid both in 1968 and in these current times?.......Upon examination, one of the primary components of the “Other America” speech was the problem of racism. Dr. King was unabashed in stating that the country had to come to terms with and recognize that racist thoughts and practices were antithetical to the American democratic experiment. In our current time and space, there are certain commentators who believe that we now live in a post-racial and colorblind America, where racism and bigotry have come to an end and divisive and artificial categorizations (i.e., races) cease to remain.

To be sure, race relations have improved when benchmarked to March of 1968 when Dr. King gave this speech. But, it is relatively safe to state that our nation is still reluctant to have candid recognition and discourse about the problem of racism. ...

Is this “Other America” that Dr. King discussed still present and relevant today? Or, was this American “apartheid” just a divisive and extreme figment of Dr. King’s imagination that was unimportant and invalid both in 1968 and in these current times?

Upon examination, one of the primary components of the “Other America” speech was the problem of racism. Dr. King was unabashed in stating that the country had to come to terms with and recognize that racist thoughts and practices were antithetical to the American democratic experiment. In our current time and space, there are certain commentators who believe that we now live in a post-racial and colorblind America, where racism and bigotry have come to an end and divisive and artificial categorizations (i.e., races) cease to remain.

And, of the course, the age-old conservative argument that myriad African-Americans find themselves in an unfortunate predicament, because they are simply not willing to lift themselves up by the bootstraps. To be sure, personal accountability is absolutely necessary in living an abundant life. But, it is extremely arrogant and disrespectful for one to think that they accomplished everything without any help from anyone and from especially God. I would opine that many African-Americans try their best to raise themselves from an impoverished state but there is only so much lifting that can be done when their bootstraps are broken by despair, discouragement and oppressive forces. Listening to Speaker of the House Boehner, “Mrs. Refudiate” Palin and other unfeeling individuals still targeting this message at African-Americans is very disheartening.

On the whole, is Dr. King’s “Other America” still vibrant and relevant in our current time and space? Unfortunately, this metaphorical yet literal dualism still exists and will continue to persist until we move beyond partisan rancor, indifference and vitriolic words and move toward genuine recognition, repentance, love and unity, as President Obama eloquently discussed during the recent memorial service in Tucson." [Source]

Yes, a "literal dualism" still exists in A-merry-ca. On that Mr. Jerrod and I both agree. But we part company with his Pollyannaish appeal to unity. It will never happen. Too many people have too much invested in keeping us (rich v. poor, black v. white) divided.

Our job is to keep trying to make those folks irrelevant. We can only hope that as new generations of A-merry-cans come to the fore, they will see the game that is being played and denounce it. That's when that dreamthat everyone like to write about will come closer to being reality.

Field I was looking for that comment I left with White Workingman I think I answered his questions fairly well. I hope he is really open to dialogue.

You know its becoming clearer to me that you may be right chances are slim of us really coming together especially if we can't even talk to one another.

And you are right the conservatives have gone crazy with the misrepresentation. I saw one earlier that I will have to find so you can see it. It claims King was a Republican. Of course King was neither Republican nor Democrat but he called them both out.

And thanks for the shout out. If I stepped on toes on that one I was aiming to lol

It's funny how ISPs and domain name registrars have little to no control over racist and bigoted sites, but when it comes to piracy or someone exposing political corruption, these same entities are willing to pull out all the stops.

"But we part company with his Pollyannaish appeal to unity. It will never happen. Too many people have too much invested in keeping us (rich v. poor, black v. white) divided."

One could argue that the biggest promoters and biggest beneficiatries in the politics of division have been the Democrats, but I'm guessing you wouldn't want to go there.

The problem with group remedies is that someone innocent always winds up getting run over. If some white man did you wrong, then that's between you and him, and I should not share blame because I look like him.

By my take, MLK was all about making race irrelevant (content of his character etc.); this site seems dedicated to making it preeminent. Do you have some investment in division?

According to King's niece, the Rev. Alveda King, her uncle was a Republican, and employed a distinctive Christian solution: confession, repentence and forgiveness.

Opposing him was not only the segregationist Democratic Party but prominently the Nation of Islam (formulated by Elija Mohamed, advocated by Malcom X) which promoted accusation, separation, reparations and unforgiving.

Seems an unlikely marriage on the surface, but apparently the Dems and NOI still find common ground today to oppose the Republicans.

If there is a God and heaven, I surmise that King is there. Further, I doubt very many people will enter the gates.

How paradoxical is the notion that the very folks who preach God, Country, Patriotism and Guns will enter the gates of hell? They claim to be evangelical, but their is nothing Chirst-like about them. They haters to the nth degree.

Let's start a list shall we:

George Wallace should be in hell.Jesse Helms should be in hell.J Edgar Hoover should be in hell.Richard Nixon should be in hell.

The list can on and on about how "Good Americans" can conceivably languishing in hell.

I love the old arguement that Dr. King was a Republican. As we know from history the Republican Party shifted once the Civil Rights Bill was passed. All of the bigots left the Democratic Party and became the Wingnuts of today. Blacks left the Republican Party and became Democrats. It's our job to point this out year after year. The real age old issues in America are more about class. Once everyone figures this out is when you will see a real revolution.

Don't you just love it how some folks invoke the name of MLK when they want black folks to shut up and stop speaking out against injustice. They want blacks to pretend that everything is just peaches and cream and no racism or inequality exist and that whites are the real victims suffering these days from discrimination.

It's the same song played over and over when they think that too many blacks are getting ahead even though that's not true. Some of them do not want to see black people with a nickel, food on their table, or a roof over their head. That song the darkies are taking our jobs. They played it during reconstruction, it was played during the great depression, played again during the Civil Rights Act, and now they're playing it again during economic crisis. They play it along with that other song called me first and let them have the crumbs. Not realizing that we're all in the same boat. Nope they can't see that and don't want to.

The people that come to my mind are Oscar Grant, that elderly senile black lady whose head was busted open from being body slammed who was lying in a puddle of blood, or that elderly man out fishing minding his own business who was severly beaten with in a inch of his life, the Scott Sisters, and many more who have experienced "JUST US" in America. Those who the "good neighbor" song wont' be played for or those who go before the justice sentence and spent all of their youth in prison behind a crime they did not commit and later it is discovered that they really did not do it and were innocent all the time.

I remember once, a white man telling me that life isn't fair when I brought up some of the injustices done to people of color. As if that was suppose to erase it and make injustice okay. I thought to myself would he feel that way if the shoe was on the other foot or would he fight for equality and justice. Well...I came to the conclusion that he would do the same thing that I am doing and he would speak out even louder because the difference is that he has the justice system in his corner, so it would be a piece of cake and easy for him because the laws were made for him. Whereas, people of color would have to fight hard and long just to get a fraction of justice. They would have run the endurance race until the end of times.

1) Field, thank you for this post and for the work you do on this blog. Please keep writing no matter what.

2) Dr. King's legacy is doubtlessly in danger of being hijacked. Those in power are desperately searching for a way to absorb and co-opt his message for their own benefit. We should expect this. The language of colorblindness has replaced the old rhetoric of segregation and as such it is the new face of white supremacy. Case in point: Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District (2007)

3) I have come across more than a few black people who seem to think that Dr. King was a sellout and a house negro compared with Malcom X. I am refreshed to see none of that here. I really feel like ignorance is to blame for this issue, but it still needs to be dealt with. The bottom line is black political thought is diverse. Our struggle is not a zero sum game. Setting up Dr. King and Malcom as intellectual enemies is just another ploy to keep us fighting against each other so that we are too distracted to focus on what is actually taking place. We have really got to stop falling for that one.

The truth is that this world is big enough and had plenty enough for every single human being to have the basic necessities in life and live comfortable. However, some got it in their mind that they need to hog everything and keep it all to themself. Greed is a killer! It kills the humanity and compassion in some folks and causes desolation. Control is another killer because it compliments greed and is just as deadly. When Cain asked am I my brother's keeper, he already knew the answer to that question, but he was being arrogant, selfish, and trying to justify the wrong he had done because we all should be our brother's keeper.

Just like we have folks trying to justify their wrongdoing in agitating those murders in Arizona. Yeppers, trying to scrub it down, place the blame elsewhere, but no matter how much scrubbing or trying to redirect the blame. However, they will never be able to scrub away the fact that innocent people died and it won't bring their life back. Yet and still, there is no remorse for those lost lives, none at all. Nope, to some their lives are like disposable diapers. Isn't that something!

Adam blamed Eve when he knew it was wrong to eat the fruit off of that tree. He could have refused and let Eve know that it was wrong, instead he chose to eat it. Then they both wind up hiding behind a fig leave to hide their wrongdoing. It seems that fig leaves are back in style here lately...blame the victim...blame others, etc.

GrannyStandinginSomePoop said: "Just like we have folks trying to justify their wrongdoing in agitating those murders in Arizona"

Granny, the voice of moderation and compassion, still peddling the libel that pins the blame for a tragedy on people she disagrees with. Even the New York times has issued an apology for trying to pin Loughner on the Tea Party. We now know the Tucson killer is an anti-Christian, anti-Constitution, left-wing, pro-Marx, antiflag, “quite liberal” lunatic who hated Bush. He had been targeting Rep. Gabrielle Giffords since 2007.

Today in the NYT regarding the shooter:

"He became intrigued by antigovernment conspiracy theories, including that the Sept. 11 attacks were perpetrated by the government and that the country’s central banking system was enslaving its citizens. His anger would well up at the sight of President George W. Bush, or in discussing what he considered to be the nefarious designs of government."

60 Minutes had a special segment in which they cajoled Malcom X’s daughter to sit down in the same room with Farrakhan. She had been a little girl and witnessed her father’s murder, just a few feet from her. Just awful. She said that it was extremely hard to be present in the same room as Farrakhan. She was sincere, Farrakhan was a snake.

60 Minutes should have been ashamed of itself. They were probably hoping they’d get Malcom X’s daughter to make a scene they could film, but she was very restrained and dignified. What a nasty bit of CBS work to put a murdered man’s daughter at the same table with the man widely rumored to have instigated it.Brings us to today: Farrakhan said in the same interview that well, he MAY have SAID some THINGS that ENCOURAGED some others to act to murder Malcom X.

He kinda did sound like some Tea partiers in the vein of anti-government sentiments. Not too many lefties are advocates of violence against the government but it does sound a bit like "second amendment remedies" no?

PilotX said...He kinda did sound like some Tea partiers in the vein of anti-government sentiments. Not too many lefties are advocates of violence against the government but it does sound a bit like "second amendment remedies" no?"

Ten days ago a madman, having legally acquired a handgun, killed six unsuspecting innocents. The Democratic Party, assisted by the braver elements of the national media, sprung into action, quickly wrestling the First Amendment to the ground and disarming it before it could do more damage. Don't be a hero, let the government media handle it. That's what we put Keith Olbermann in pancake make-up for. Always trust in the government.

Always. Just as in those heady days following 9-11, we are advised to "watch what we say". The parallels between this and that panic make a handy and instructive analog for the confused citizen. Meanwhile, working with heroic speed, experts have already fashioned a new standard for acceptable public rhetoric--if it's capable of provoking a raving lunatic it is illicit. Make a note of it.

This has been necessarily expanded from the original focus on white male Republicans, who nonetheless retain their place atop the hierarchy of hysteria. This all will take some getting used to, I know, but one can always observe Mom's advice--if you don't have anything nice to say, drown your hatemongering words and yourself in your acidic spittle, you fascist bigot. And if you’re incapable of recognizing what might set off a lunatic, you are the lunatic.

Above all remain calm; our enlightened betters are valiantly fighting to will into being this "new reality" that will have "changed everything". They know what they're talking about. Recall the media's uncanny prophesy that AIDS "changed everything", delivering us from our libertine sexual ways; that 9/11 "changed everything", bringing the nation together finally; and of course the post-partisan transformation of Barack Obama's presidency ushering in a new era of domestic tranquility and world peace. These are the people who saved you from Saddam Hussein's killer drones and WMD labs, remember. Despair not of their wisdom and sobriety.

Nope, doesn't sound like me at all! I am not out trying to kill anyone or get anyone killed. No Suh! Human life is too precious to me and I don't put human beings in the same category with disposable diapers as some folks do.

I am well aware of how the good old boy network works and have seen it in action more than I can count.

You can call me everything but a child of God, I could care less, it's not gone change what I said, and I'm not taking none of what I said back either.

The truth: It's the content of the Republican character that we find objectionable, summed up in the paradox, "compassionate conservatism," and why we "refudiate" the inerrant solutions that you and your party proffer to keep America strong and vibrant.

"The problem with group remedies is that someone innocent always winds up getting run over."

Did you speak out when Bush enunciated his doctrine: "You're either with us or against us in the fight against terror."

"By my take, MLK was all about making race irrelevant (content of his character etc.);"

Here's my take: Many have used race as a divisive tool in and of itself. There's only one race, and that's the human race.

It wasn't King's aim to make race "irrelevant," as you propose, but to attack a white proclivity to "judge," actually prejudge, the value and worth of people on the basis of their skin color alone, and to adjudge that a sufficient test of their humanity.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." MLK

I did notice how bravely the AZ TeaBagger done reached fer hims Secon'Mendment Remedies when given a piece of street theatre by a man actually shot.Oh wait, TeaBagger had eveelbiggubmint police arrest the protester.

Hate to break it to the poster who wailed that there elites in the US. Why yes, yes there are. Didn't this become apparent in Grade 9 when the smart kids 'Left Behind' all the slacker and less gifted?

If you repeat the canard the shooter was leftist to cover up the guilt...you only fool yourself.

Thanks to the sacrifice and work of MLK and others, it is far better than it used to be. We should keep the day to remind those who would 'take back' our country to those Bad Old Days.

The truth: It's the content of the Republican character that we find objectionable, summed up in the paradox, "compassionate conservatism," and why we "refudiate" the inerrant solutions that you and your party proffer to keep America strong and vibrant."

Well said, The Fire Next Time.

West coast, thanks for your comments.

"According to King's niece, the Rev. Alveda King, her uncle was a Republican, and employed a distinctive Christian solution: confession, repentence and forgiveness.

Opposing him was not only the segregationist Democratic Party but prominently the Nation of Islam (formulated by Elija Mohamed, advocated by Malcom X) which promoted accusation, separation, reparations and unforgiving."

That was total garbage.

Wesley R, that song has been played over and over by wingnuts and it always sounds the same.

"By my take, MLK was all about making race irrelevant (content of his character etc.); this site seems dedicated to making it preeminent. Do you have some investment in division?"

Errrm, I'm not "missing" anything, "mate". What gets missed is, in slapping everyone with the gratuitous labels, that there is some "house" in the "fieldest" of negros, and some "field" in the "housest" ones. But that's far too hard. Much easier to make everything left/right, wrong/right, "field"/"house".

My Toastmasters club had a theme of Dr. King last night. One of the most interesting speakers to me was a woman who opined that Dr. King had an ability to look at the issue from above, and guide this country where it needed to go.

He didn't speak with vitriol or hate, he spoke of God and the promised land. He quoted the Declaration of Independence and spoke of truth and love.

We should all rise above in honor of Dr. King, together we can make this country the place he saw from the mountaintop.

I think you are. Firstly the term honourary is only applied to white people. Secondly if you read what field actually says - people are guilty of 'house negro' behaviour. (Or behavior, as I believe you people spell it.) In other words he is pulling them up on their actions in the incident in question, at that time. Doesn't necessarily mean they are house negroes for ever - though they may be.

?What gets missed is, in slapping everyone with the gratuitous labels, that there is some "house" in the "fieldest" of negros, and some "field" in the "housest" ones. But that's far too hard. Much easier to make everything left/right, wrong/right, "field"/"house".

1. Not everyone is slapped with a label.2. The labels are not necessarily gratuitous, they are based on Field's opinions, which he is still allowed to express, last time I looked.3. Fieldness-in-the house-negroes, I agree. See previous answer. I suspect Field will as well.4. I don't see any evidence of such bi-polar logic on this blog, of all blogs.

The widow of Martin Luther King Jr. called gay marriage a civil rights issue, denouncing a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban it.

Constitutional amendments should be used to expand freedom, not restrict it, Coretta Scott King said Tuesday.

"Gay and lesbian people have families, and their families should have legal protection, whether by marriage or civil union," she said. "A constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages is a form of gay bashing and it would do nothing at all to protect traditional marriages."

Julian Bond, who is also a professor at the University of Virginia, reportedly told his students in his history class that day why he chose not to attend the funeral in Atlanta. He decided not to go because he felt that Dr. King's message and Coretta Scott King's message were contradictory to the message of the anti-gay New Birth Missionary Baptist Church.

Bond Said Mrs. King Supported Gay Rights

Several students in the class told the University of Virginia student newspaper, The Cavalier, that Bond said King would have opposed the views on gay rights held by New Birth's pastor, Bishop Eddie Long. According to one student who attended the class, Bond "said that he chose not to attend the funeral [because] during her life Coretta Scott King very much [pushed] for civil rights not just for African-Americans but also for gays and lesbians." Julian Bond has been a longtime supporter of civil rights for gays and lesbians, and he was one of the first civil rights leaders to speak out for the right to marry.

Representative Charles B. Rangel got the loudest response of all when he issued a call for action, saying: “Why don’t you help me form a group of mothers whose sons murdered the sons and daughters of other mothers? It ain’t no white folks down South killing our boys.”

One of King’s best friends was a HOMOSEXUAL named Bayard Rustin. They shared mutual respect and platonic love as fellow civil rights warriors. King endured abuse from fellow comrades and the FBI as he defended his homosexual friend. He defiantly ignored a gaybashing, closeted, homosexual named J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover regularly threatened to blackmail Martin, with lies about he and Bayard being lovers. For more information on their friendship, see Martin Luther King Jr.: To The Mountaintop by William Witherspoon. The following quote is taken from that classic book:

“Roy Wilkins did not want Bayard Rustin to have any part in organizing the [1963 March on Washington] because of his past associations with leftist causes and his reputed homosexuality. King insisted, ‘We are not concerned with Bayard or the past associations or affiliations of any participants. We are not going to conduct a witchhunt.’ They compromised by letting A.Phillip Randolph chair the march, knowing his administrative assistant, Rustin, was going to be the defacto director of the entire undertaking. Bayard had the time, the ability, the organization, and the skills to run it.”

Bayard Rustin was the central force behind that legendary 1963 march. Even as he sought civil rights for Blacks, Black gaybashers abused him because of his homosexuality. To this day, many homo-hating hypocrites like Alveda seek freedom from oppression, as they simultaneously oppress homosexuals.

Alveda is no activist! She is a Black neocon fool! She is a disgraceful pretender to her uncle Martin’s revolutionary throne!

Black Panther Huey Newton said (9-15-70, “The Women’s Liberation & Gay Liberation Movements” Speech, Reprinted in Workers World News 6-30-94): “We should try to unite with homosexuals in a revolutionary fashion. Homosexuals are our friends. When we have revolutionary conferences, rallies, and demonstrations, there should be full participation of the gay liberation movement. We must relate to the homosexual movement, because it is a very real thing.”

Dr. Cornel West said (from the classic film on homosexuals and the Black Church, “All God’s Children”): “If I have one word for fellow Christians, I would ask them to keep their eyes on the love of Jesus, and not to confuse the blood at Calvary with the KoolAid of homophobia in America...We have to call into question our own particular prejudices that we inherit, that have nothing to do with the loving gospel of Jesus...that challenge is to the Black Church...precisely because we have too many Black folk who are suffering because of the inability to talk about sexuality.”

Lastly, I quote moronic Alveda’s wise uncle Martin, from The Wisdom of Martin Luther King Jr. by Alex Ayres:

Dr. King said: “God is not just interested in the freedom of Black men, God is interested in the freedom of the whole human race. All life is interrelated. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. The Negro’s primary aim is to be the white man’s brother, not his brother-in-law. God is love. Death is not the ultimate evil, the ultimate evil is to be outside God’s love. The trailblazers in human, academic, and religious freedom have always been in the minority. Evil never voluntarily relinquishes its head, short of a persistent, almost fanatical resistance.”

MLK would be disgusted at how his legacy is being used: liberal blacks use him to establish a double standard, a sort of "have your cake and eat it, too," while liberal whites prostitute his dream.

When MLK fought for civil rights, there weren't a lot of black mega-millionaires or black industry moguls like Oprah Winfrey or Jay-Z. If BET existed at all, it would have been only because black people would not have been able to appear on "regular" TV. The black man is no longer an exile in his own land, as King suggested in the '60s. When King spoke of the shameful condition of the black man, it was real and at the hands of white Democrats. Today however, if there is a shameful condition of the black man, it is a condition of the black man's own creation.

There can be no argument that black people have advanced to the highest possible levels in America, and black liberals know in their hearts that the sky is the limit as far as the potential for black achievement is concerned. No longer do black liberals need to feel disingenuous when encouraging their children that they could one day be president of the United States.

Despite all the overwhelming examples of achievement by blacks, however, liberal black people still complain more than any other culture about America -- calling America racist and saying that the black man is being kept down. They are right on the second point. But it is liberal blacks keeping liberal blacks down.

The gap between black and white has indeed grown, but nowhere near as much as the gap between all poor people, (black and white) and rich people (white).

Much is made of the great increase in wealth during the Clinton boom, but did you know that in the 25 years from 1980 to 2005 – more than 80% of the total increase in income in America went to the top 1% of earners?

The gap between rich and poor in America is now the widest it has been since 1915, in real terms middle class and poor people are poorer now than they were in 1980. The gap between rich and poor in America is now wider than the equivelant gap in Guyana, Nicaragua and Venezuela, and about on a par with Argentina and Ecuador. That gap is actually closing in South America, but growing in the USA.

Yet nobody seems to notice. When asked if it was true that Americans can achieve anything through hard work and diligence 69% of Americans polled said yes. However social mobility in the USA is the lowest in the industrial world. Lower than those countries Americans perceive as being old-fashioned and class-bound – such as the UK, France and Spain.

"Despite all the overwhelming examples of achievement by blacks, however, liberal black people still complain more than any other culture about America -- calling America racist and saying that the black man is being kept down."

This is absolute GARBAGE.

I challenge you to provide evidence of any black liberals TODAY claiming "de white man" is keeping black folks down.

But if you want to hear about the "civility deficit" or "acceptance of failure" or "abandonment of families" or "non-academics" or any other so-called "black" pathology listen to Conservatives. FOx TV, Manhattan Institute, Heritage Foundation. Charles Murray, Dinesh D'Souza, Pat Buchanan, Uncle Juan Williams.

"Attack the black" is a rightwing cottage industry.

A black man is the leader of the free world and these low life racists still attempt to make the baggy pants wearing nine totin street gangsta the face of black America.

Yet nobody seems to notice. When asked if it was true that Americans can achieve anything through hard work and diligence 69% of Americans polled said yes. However social mobility in the USA is the lowest in the industrial world. Lower than those countries Americans perceive as being old-fashioned and class-bound – such as the UK, France and Spain.

Nonsense. Still having withdrawal pangs from the Revolution aye mate?

The rich poor divide is wider then 40 years ago in the UK.

It's simple. It education. The age of the coal industrial type manufacturing booms are over. People who choose not to be educated have low marketable skills with lower demand, equaling lower earning potential.

Maybe a course on business startup and investing could be provided. Of course remedial english and math are prerequisites.

The UK is already a cesspool. A state that some in the US are trying hard to highlight the lessons learned by viewing your mistakes and not repeating them, and continuing down the road to the UK's current condition. Although not politically correct to vapid cows such as yourself.

A 53 percent Black majority think that the economy is starting to recover. Only 40 percent of whites hold that opinion. Yet, for the average Black or white working class person with a mortgage to pay, the situation is as bad as ever – and for Black people, that means roughly twice as bad. The Pew poll shows that 35 percent of Blacks report their homes are worth less than their mortgages, compared to just 18 percent for white people. Fifty-four percent of Blacks took a pay cut, worked reduced hours or were forced to take unpaid leave during the Great Recession. Only 37 percent of whites suffered such employment trauma, yet Blacks are consistently – and insanely – more optimistic about the future, and feel better about the present, than whites do. Nearly a third of Blacks say they are in better shape than before the recession began – a figure with no basis whatsoever in real life, and a perception that is at total war with reality. Everything is worse for every major Black demographic since December 2007. There is nothing to be upbeat about – except, for Obama supporters, the election 0f 2008. From that point on, a large segment of Black America became disconnected from reality, numb to their own pain and to the pain of their children. They have been singing zippidity-doo-dah while all around them Black America is in economic free-fall. These deluded Black folks have been rendered incompetent and politically useless to themselves and their families by the mere existence of a Black president. Obama's election was, besides the Great Recession itself, the worse thing that has happened to Black people in a long time

As much as 50 percent of Americans between the ages of 60 and 90 will face at least one year of poverty or near-poverty going forward and that poverty will not be evenly distributed across the population, according to a new study.

Research done by Mark R. Rank, the Herbert S. Hadley Professor of Social Work at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, found that the risk of elderly black Americans facing poverty was double that of elderly white Americans. It says that although 32.7 percent of older white Americans will experience at least one year below the official poverty line, the corresponding percentage for older black Americans was double that at 64.6 percent.

Not so long ago, Memphis, a city where a majority of the residents are black, was a symbol of a South where racial history no longer tightly constrained the choices of a rising black working and middle class. Now this city epitomizes something more grim: How rising unemployment and growing foreclosures in the recession have combined to destroy black wealth and income and erase two decades of slow progress.

Black middle-class neighborhoods are hollowed out, with prices plummeting and homes standing vacant in places like Orange Mound, Whitehaven and Cordova. As job losses mount — black unemployment here, mirroring national trends, has risen to 16.9 percent from 9 percent two years ago; it stands at 5.3 percent for whites — many blacks speak of draining savings and retirement accounts in an effort to hold onto their homes. The overall local foreclosure rate is roughly twice the national average.

Unemployment for African Americans is projected to reach a 25-year high this year, according to a study released Thursday by an economic think tank, with the national rate soaring to 17.2 percent and the rates in five states exceeding 20 percent.

Blacks as well as Latinos were far behind whites in employment levels even when the economy was booming. But throughout the recession, the unemployment rate has grown much faster for African Americans and Latinos than for whites, according to the study by the Economic Policy Institute. Moreover, the unemployment gap between men and women has reached a record high -- with men far outpacing women in joblessness.

"A 53 percent Black majority think that the economy is starting to recover. Only 40 percent of whites hold that opinion."

Gee, I wonder why that is?

I had a heated argument with a white colleague of mine who swore up and down that Obama raised taxes and when I proved that he did not raise taxes but indeed cut taxes for the middle class, you think my colleague apologized?

Nope. He did what righties always do when proven wrong. Shrug his shoulders and disappeared.

as u harp upon your hobama loving fantasies...corps and the rich are paying less taxes than ever

and ALL states and EVERYONE else will suffer for it...

including ujust stand by

The deal worked out between President Obama and the Republicans to extend Bush-era tax cuts for the richest Americans is the latest demonstration of the dictatorship America’s financial aristocracy wields over the government and its policies.

The agreement will extend $150 billion in income tax savings to the wealthy over the next two years and hundreds of billions more in the form of cuts to taxes on corporate profits, capital gains, and the estates of multimillionaires.

Obama has capitulated to the demands of the financial elite, expressed openly in the solid Republican support for continuing the tax cut for the wealthy, despite large Democratic majorities in both houses of the outgoing “lame duck” Congress. He has sought to justify this latest handout to the rich by claiming that he secured major concessions, including the continuation of tax breaks for the lower tax brackets, a 13-month extension of federal unemployment benefits, and a one-year cut in Social Security payroll taxes (which will actually result in a tax increase for the bottom 40 percent of US households when balanced against the expiration of the current Making Work Pay tax credit).

The UK was doing OK until it was Thatcherized to placate their rich who felt the dole encouraged indolence. De-industrialisation decreases the political power of unions and the financial clout of the working class. As far as globalisation...we've had a global economy since before the British Empire. One might read what the Founding Fathers thought of protectionism.The idea of education sounds good...it was true when Joe Biden was at University....but overlooks those not college-bound. It also blames those who are unemployed for not having the moral fibre to take on massive debt or be born bush.

MLK and MalcolmX fought against a structure that relegated AfAms to permanent second-class status, no matter their character or accomplishments. 'Taking back' the country only shows the fear of those with unearned rewards

K said:"Today however, if there is a shameful condition of the black man, it is a condition of the black man's own creation."

K this is not true but please offer your insights into how black folks oppressed themselves. And in your answer don't include the symptons of this discriminaiton especially the behavior that occurs in North America's inner cities.

apathy trumps ancient abuseasdc has always been a shining political example of racism and taxation without representation...

this is yet another prime black betrayal by that lying blackish hobama

wonder how it outrages shirley sherrod and alice palmer too?...

Norton wrote a letter to Obama on Thursday asking him to "reiterate your support for voting rights and greater democracy for the citizens who live in the nation's capital, in keeping with your co-sponsorship of the bill when you were in the Senate." Referencing the issue, Norton added, would help "to maintain the terrific momentum we achieved in the voting rights struggle in anticipation of regaining the House and maintaining the Senate in the 2012 elections."

Norton's tactic is not a new one. She wrote a similar letter to Obama in January 2010 at the urging of local activists, in which she noted that "[t]he stars are surely aligned" for voting rights advocates to succeed this year. Obama did not mention the issue in his 2010 speech, nor did he bring it up in his February 2009 address to a joint session of Congress.

n-s won't do that; he hates sharpton. he only likes rangel because of he thinks his white colleagues shamed him during his ethics trial.

Both Sharpton and Rangel are despicable liars. But once in a while both tell the truth.

In the last 25 years in NY Sharpton has had a mere three opportuntities to exploit the deaths of blacks who were killed or injured by police in wrongful ways.

On the other hand, Sharpton knows that over those 25 years he has ignored about 20,000 mothers of blacks killed by other blacks.

Finally, Sharpton has begun facing the reality.

Of course, he wants to blame gun manufacturers and gun dealers rather than gun-men. And is still evading responsibility for the shooting/fire mutliple-murder he inspired at Freddie's Fashion Mart on 125th St, just a few blocks from where he spoke yesterday.

Folks live in D.C. for the go-go music. @Steve, I know you try but you'll never convince these racists that middle-class Black neighborhoods exist. We all hang out at the liquor stores and have baggy pants. From the doctor and lawyer to the town drunk a Black is just a n&%%$@. By that same logic all whites live in trailer parks.Stupid can't be cured.

“Why don’t you help me form a group of mothers whose sons murdered the sons and daughters of other mothers? It ain’t no white folks down South killing our boys.”

@ some point, folks are REALLY going to need to enlist the help of MEN and FATHERS for some of this heavy lifting...just saying...

Mellaneous, there is nothing that mandates black males shoot each other over the silliest of things. there is nothing that prevents black males from applying themselves in school, aside from it not being "easy". the daughters are coming from the same conditions with greater responsibility in most cases and still applying themselves. there is nothing that prohibits black males from embracing, in greater numbers, the societal norms that all men in greater numbers than black men embrace. there is nothing that prohibits black males in greater numbers from taking responsibility for the children they help produce. it is common knowledge that american justice is NOT blind, so there is nothing that should keep black males from acting accordingly in greater numbers.

so, yes, the statement you attempt to refute is in actuality, the truth.

Dr. Bobby Wright wrote magnificently about mentacide and the effects of it. so i do understand the whys on a deeper level. nevertheless, help is not on the way. IF bfolks in greater numbers are to be saved, bfolks will need to save themselves. this truth applies to the men and the women.

MUCH of the damage done to black folks at this point in history is SELF inflicted. in a patriarch, the successes and losses are attributed to the menfolk. for example, to this day the responsibility of white supremacy gets laid squarely on the shoulders of white men. lol. the only time folks want to evenly distribute responsibility is when it is time for black women to get some or black men to continue their efforts to avoid it at all costs.

"With Black Crime being the largest and most prevalent issue of the Black Community how come you never say ANYTHING about it? Its all someone else fault and responsibility isn't."

As I stated, racists like you want to make crime the largest and most prevalent issue for blacks because you don't regard blacks as your equals and worthy enough to be concerned with the issues of the day that concern all Americans.

Get used to the notion that black folks are founding partners in this experiment called America and we will speak out on all subjects including America's continuing problem with race.

Sorry anonny, I’ve clearly over-estimated you. The astonishing length and breadth of your stupidity is only now becoming clear to me.

Yes, the rich/poor divide is wider now, and that’s exactly my point. Capitalism is failing to improve the lives of everyone but the super-rich.

If you had bothered to read my previous post properly (perhaps you need a course in remedial English?) You would see that the gap between rich and poor in the USA is the widest in the USA of all industrial nations. Including the U.K.

It's simple. It education. The age of the coal industrial type manufacturing booms are over. People who choose not to be educated have low marketable skills with lower demand, equaling lower earning potential.

Really? That’s the problem is it? Gosh.

During the Clinton boom years, American industry became 20% more efficient, yet not one cent of the value and profits generated by this increase in efficiency was passed on to poor and middle class workers. Not a penny. How does that line up with your ‘deserving poor’ schtik?

Again, re-read what I wrote, 80% of all the wealth generated in the two boom periods in the 80’s and 90’s went to the richest 1%.

Are you seriously suggesting that 99% of the American public doesn’t want to be educated?

Field! Wats Ahhpppppppp??Too bad about your Iggles.I know, my Fal-Coons sucked worse.But seriously, ya'll Spooks check out my site, did a great MLK tribute, and its not even sarcastic, and unlike your pitiful attempt, I included some great U2 tuneage...

AB, i was going to ask uts the same thing. point to a lie and i will take it back. lol.

i will point to a lie he told and attributed to me. no, i don't expect him to take it back. IF he stopped lying and denying the truth he would make no contribution to ANY comment thread.

at NO time have i indicated that bw were pitiful victims without responsibility or complicity in their continued marginalization and exploitation. i have stressed clearly that there are NO VICTIMS at this point in history...only volunteers, as it relates to GROWN WOMEN. now the children that are preyed on regularly and routinely with impunity in the so-called black community, THAT'S a whole other story. in the interest of brevity i will leave it at that.

anyone professing the great genocidal damage black folks, especially bm, are doing to the so called black community, is a "stereotype", needs to go hush. bm have out murdered, out raped, out denigrated the so called black community-through words AND deeds- the kkk, brutal racist cops, and racists in general pales (no pun intended, lol) in comparison. the klan would most definitely be proud of the on going handiwork.

for the record, i don't "hate" bm. i am completely indifferent at this point. hate requires a great deal of effort and energy that would be squandered to "hate" bm. collectively, they hate themselves enough for anyone else that might be inclined to rest on it. look and see the overwhelming evidence of this truth. look at the conditions of bw and children and argue the assertion. i know someone will. lol. if denial was progress, american black folks would be sitting on top of the humanity heap.

the black guy in la that decided to strip buck fool naked and fight with the police, resulting in being shot dead, is just the latest fool folks expect me to be upset over. shrug. i was asked why i wasn't upset when i gave the blank stare and changed the subject. i am indifferent and content to let other folks stand up and fight at this point on behalf of folks that refuse to protect themselves much less anyone else. women are not called to protect men. we are called to make wise choices that will help to preserve the quality of our lives. embracing the truth is a part of walking in wisdom.

speaking of protection...uts, your and your bread winner wife's personal info is still plastered in past threads. instead of inviting me to act a fool with your foolish behind, why don't you get with your boy fn and fix that? i don't think your wife has ever commented here. at least she doesn't claim you or any affiliation if she has. maybe you could man up for a minute and protect her identity since she has the provision on lock? lol. teamwork. what a concept.

AB, i was going to ask uts the same thing. point to a lie and i will take it back. lol.

i will point to a lie he told and attributed to me. no, i don't expect him to take it back. IF he stopped lying and denying the truth he would make no contribution to ANY comment thread.

at NO time have i indicated that bw were pitiful victims without responsibility or complicity in their continued marginalization and exploitation. i have stressed clearly that there are NO VICTIMS at this point in history...only volunteers, as it relates to GROWN WOMEN. now the children that are preyed on regularly and routinely with impunity in the so-called black community, THAT'S a whole other story. in the interest of brevity i will leave it at that.

anyone professing the great genocidal damage black folks, especially bm, are doing to the so called black community, is a "stereotype", needs to go hush. bm have out murdered, out raped, out denigrated the so called black community-through words AND deeds- the kkk, brutal racist cops, and racists in general pales (no pun intended, lol) in comparison. the klan would most definitely be proud of the on going handiwork.

for the record, i don't "hate" bm. i am completely indifferent at this point. hate requires a great deal of effort and energy that would be squandered to "hate" bm. collectively, they hate themselves enough for anyone else that might be inclined to rest on it. look and see the overwhelming evidence of this truth. look at the conditions of bw and children and argue the assertion. i know someone will. lol. if denial was progress, american black folks would be sitting on top of the humanity heap.

the black guy in la that decided to strip buck fool naked and fight with the police, resulting in being shot dead, is just the latest fool folks expect me to be upset over. shrug. i was asked why i wasn't upset when i gave the blank stare and changed the subject. i am indifferent and content to let other folks stand up and fight at this point on behalf of folks that refuse to protect themselves much less anyone else. women are not called to protect men. we are called to make wise choices that will help to preserve the quality of our lives. embracing the truth is a part of walking in wisdom.

speaking of protection...uts, your and your bread winner wife's personal info is still plastered in past threads. instead of inviting me to act a fool with your foolish behind, why don't you get with your boy fn and fix that? i don't think your wife has ever commented here. at least she doesn't claim you or any affiliation if she has. maybe you could man up for a minute and protect her identity since she has the provision on lock? lol. teamwork. what a concept.

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Older, familiar leaders such as Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton and NAACP Chairman Julian Bond, are under challenge by a younger generation of bloggers known by such provocative screen names as Field Negro, thefreeslaveand African American Political Pundit. And many of the newest struggles are being waged online."~Howard Witt-The Chicago Tribune~

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